What Do Men and Women Expect from Sex Robots?

Monday, June 18, 2018

With advances in technology, we’re getting closer and closer to having sex robots like the realistic-looking ones in the movies Ex Machina and A.I. And as that day inevitably nears, I gotta ask: what do men and women think about futuristic masturbation toys?

I, for one, am all for them, and I think anyone who has spent longer than two months on Okcupid or Bumble will most certainly agree. But what does SCIENCE tell us???

Well, according to Science, AKA Discover Magazine, two thirds of men surveyed in 2016 said they would try a sex robot. (Hmm… wonder why the other third lied.) Two thirds of women said the opposite—no way, Gigolo Joe. The results came from the first exploratory survey about human attitudes towards sexbots, and the survey has been praised not only because it gives us a glimpse into sex robots’ future usage but it also lets us know what men and women think about sex and relationships in general.

The survey was conducted by Tufts University in Massachusetts. The researchers wanted to know what people thought sex robots should look like and what uses of the sexbots was “appropriate.” They wanted their research to be used in technology advancement so that creators can make machines that please us, not harm us. And by harm us, the Tufts team meant psychologically. Because come on, we all know people who want to use a sexbot probably want to be thrown around a little. AmIRight?

No?

No...

No.

Okay, then…

But back to this psychological thing, which researchers think may become a huge problem when sex robots take over the world like Teslas have taken over Los Angeles freeways.

Mattias Scheutz, a computer scientist at Tufts, said that humans tend to form emotional attachments to toys or virtual friends; and that once sex robots start looking like people and acting like people, human beings are likely to become confused with their feelings. Scheutz hopes that once the sex robot technology exists that he can perform longer experiments and see whether or not humans really will be able to just use their robots for fun or if those masturbation toys will end up replacing human-to-human love in general.

The Tufts team found men and women both agreed sex robots should not look like kids, showcasing a current widespread disapproval of pedophilia. However, men and women could not fully agree on other robot looks, besides that the robots need to resemble adults. While the women surveyed were more conservative, balking at the idea of having celebrity lookalikes, men were down to get busy with robots that looked like fantasy creatures, celebrities, one’s deceased spouse, and a person’s friend (The person’s friend thing may give me more pause than if my man wanted to do Kim Kardashian, but I digress…)

Next, the research team surveyed men and women on what was appropriate use for the robots. As expected, they agreed on some things but not others. Issues they agreed on included that sex robots were better than hiring a human prostitute, could be used by the disabled, and could reduce the risk of sexually transmitted diseases.

Men and women tended to disagree on topics such as whether or not it was appropriate to give sex offenders robots and whether or not it was appropriate to use sex robots to practice abstinence. Men and women agreed but varied in approval when it came to using sex robots for making porn, to fuck instead of cheating on a spouse, and to engage in group sex with other humans.

Overall, despite whether or not the people surveyed viewed sexbots’ usage as appropriate or not, it does sound like a fun future once those robotics emerge. Discover Magazine reported that sex robot technology is still primitive but is expected to rev up because the porn industry and robot makers are quickly trying to make sophisticated robots to replace the correct crude but intriguing toys.